It looks like the new Nook GlowLight 4 Plus has started shipping ahead of schedule.
Barnes and Noble announced the new 7.8-inch Nook back in early July, after images of its upcoming release leaked in May. It’s been available to pre-order from B&N’s website for nearly 2 months now, and they indicated it would get released on September 6th.
Now the pre-order option is gone and the Nook GlowLight 4 Plus is available to order for $199 with free shipping (B&N Members can get 10% off). With expedited shipping the website shows it’ll arrive in 2 days.
The new Nook is a follow-up to the first Nook GlowLight Plus that was released in 2019. It still has a 7.8-inch E Ink screen with 300 ppi, but there have been some other upgrades.
This new model has an updated design with a flush-front screen. It also has physical page-turn buttons on each side of the screen, and the device is waterproof (it’s IPx7 rated).
B&N also added support for streaming and downloading audiobooks to this model. You can listen using Bluetooth or 3.5mm headphones.
Barnes and Noble doesn’t post a detailed list of specs, but we do know the Nook GlowLight 4 Plus has 32GB of storage space and a USB-C port. Of course there’s WiFi support too (802.11 b/g/n), and B&N still likes to point out that WiFi access is free in all B&N stores.
Battery life is rated at up to 3 weeks for reading, based on reading 30 minutes per day with the frontlight at 10% brightness and with wireless turned off. Battery life is rated at 9 hours for continuous audio playback over Bluetooth.
The dimensions are listed at 7.8″ x 5.8″ x .31″ and the weight is 285 grams. Like earlier Nooks, EPUB and PDF files are supported.
So what do you think about this new Nook? The price is quite a bit lower than other 7.8-inch ereaders.
Too heavy (it’s 40g heavier than the 8” Kobo Sage) and the bezels are too narrow for a 7.8” reader. Impossible to get a good grip. The 2019 version was more comfortable to hold.
Anyway, as long as B&N still uses the same old software, I’m not going to buy another Nook, no matter how cheap. The Nook software is seriously dated. Too slow, too few options. I wonder if they still continue their partitioning game with this newest model? That must be one of the stupidest ideas in the history of ereaders.
In short, I haven’t been impressed by Nooks for a long while now and this model does nothing to change that.
Oh my, they made it heavier than the Kobo Sage? That’s a NO from me right there. I can manage the Sage, but I wouldn’t want it any heavier.
Otherwise, I feel as you say, there’s just nothing to tempt me away from Kobo. They’d have to come out with something seriously innovative in an 8-9″ screen to even get me thinking about buying an ereader from them again.
The image shows the New York Times. Is it a PDF? Would it be easy to read and navigate, and could you get that format via subscription? Just curious.
I haven’t tried it. It was just a picture they have on their website, but they sell Nook subscriptions for The New York Times.
Does it support side-loaded M4B audiobook files? Or only purchase from B&N?
Only B&N audiobooks.
$199 is a pretty good price for a 7.8″ form factor.
I just sold a Kindle Oasis on eBay. A number of the ebooks and journals don’t work on it. A few examples: Any magazine or newspaper subscription, James Allen’s Middle Egyptian book, and several Python and C++ programming language books,. I hate paying good money for an eReader and an ecosystem like Amazon’s only to discover that, despite all the reviews touting Amazon’s massive offerings, the things I want aren’t available. FYI, they’re available on the new Nook Glowlight 4 plus, including the New York Times subscription. Oh, and if you’re a B&N paid member, the price is 180, not $200. Even at $200, the buttons are worth the extra bucks. Won’t ever buy a Kindle again, and I like my Glowlight 4 plus.
There’s an error in your eReader comparison table. The Glowlight 4 Plus is waterproof, IPX7. Your table says it isn’t.
My mistake. That was the glowlight 4 in your table, not the glowlight 4 plus. Sorry.